Rationale: Letter
recognition is one of the best predictors
of a child's future reading achievement (Adams
36).To read, children must be able to
automatically recognize letters.In this
lesson, children are taught how to recognize D, write uppercase and
lowercase
D, and the sound and mouth move that D=/d/ makes.

Introduce the letter D."Today
we are going to learn about the letter D.Ding
Dong begins with D.Lets all say Ding Dong
together, and ring the door bell( show motion).Do
you hear the D=/d/?Lets say ding dong
making the D=/d/ sound like a machine gun, like this, dddding ddddong.Now you try.What
does your mouth do when you say D=/d/?Did
you feel the tip of your tongue just barely touch the roof of your
mouth, right behind your top teeth, and then did you feel your mouth
open a little bit and your tongue pop down?That
is what our mouths do when we say D=/d/. Let's say Ding Dong and ring
the doorbell together and see if we feel it. Ding Dong."

Name words to the
whole class, some beginning with d, some not, some ending with d, some
not.Ask the class to ring the door bell
when they hear D=/d/. Teacher rings doorbell on the first couple of
D=/d/ words to model for the students. "Now I am going to call out some
words.If you hear D=/d/ in the word, I
want you to ring the door bell.You may
here D=/d/ at the beginning or end of a word.Deer,
dog, cat, man, bed, mad, happy."

Introduce the tongue
twister, Ding Dong, David's Daddy is at the door.Tongue
twister is written on chart paper for the class to see. Repeat tongue
twister with the class."Here is a tongue twister with
D=/d/: (point to chart) Ding Dong, David's Daddy is at the door, let's
say it together. Ding Dong, David's Daddy is at the door.Did you hear D=/d/ in that tongue twister?This time when we say it, ring the door bell when you hear
D=/d/.Ding Dong, David's Daddy is at the
door.

Model and instruct how
to write D and d. Use dry erase or chalk board with primary lines.Have the children use their primary paper."We
Know what D=/d/ sounds like, now we will learn how to write the letter
D.Take out your paper and pencil and
watch what I do.(Model while instructing)For big D we start at the roof, go straight
down, pick up, and go around.Now you try
to make a D, start at the roof, go straight down, pick up, and go
around.Good.For
little d, first we make little c, then little d.Now
you try, first make little c, then little d.Continue
to make big D and little d, while I walk around the room to see how
well you are doing.(Teacher will help
those having trouble).

Introduce and read The Doorbell Rang. Ask children to ring the doorbell
every time they hear D=/d/ in the book."Now we are going to read The Doorbell Rang, this is a book about some kids who
are trying to share cookies, and more people keep coming to the door,
so they have to keep sharing the cookies with more and moor people.What sound does a doorbell make when it rings?And when we say ding dong we say D=/d/, don't
we?Every time you hear D=/d/ in this
story I want you to ring the doorbell.

Assess the children
using the picture page. "Now
I am going to pass out a page with some pictures on it.If the picture begins with D, like duck, I want you to
circle the picture.If the picture does
not begin with D, like cow, do not circle it.

References:

Adams, Marilyn-Jager. (1990) Beginning to Read:
Thinking and Learning About Print. Center for the study off Reading
and the Reading
Research and EducationCenter,
University of Illinois
at Urbana-
Champagne-36.